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Science 27 January 1978:
Vol. 199. no. 4327, pp. 453 - 455
DOI: 10.1126/science.199.4327.453
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Articles

Adaptive Significance of Reproductive Cycles in the Fiddler Crab Uca pugilator: A Hypothesis

JOHN H. CHRISTY 1

1 Ecology and Systematics, 110 Insectary, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

Semimonthly peaks in courtship behavior of male crabs coincide with peaks in the temporal distribution of receptive females. Females mate once each month, 4 to 5 days before one of the semimonthly spring tides. The relation of the time of reproduction to tide cycles may be an adaptation to increase to a maximum the probability that the final stage of the planktonic larvae will be transported by tidal currents to substrates suitable for adults.

Submitted on July 1, 1977
Revised on October 11, 1977


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Male versus female mate searching in fiddler crabs: a comparative analysis.
C. E. deRivera and S. L. Vehrencamp (2001)
Behav. Ecol. 12, 182-191
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